What has turned out to be the
most ill-fated year in Zimbabwe's history - more devastating in its impact than
the Great Depression of the 1930s - started off on a hopeful note

IDEN WETHERELL

A

commission appointed by President Robert
Mugabe to draw up a new Constitution had heard country-wide evidence of the head
of state's unpopularity and dissatisfaction with his authoritarian system of
government. It was confidently expected that the commissioners, despite civil
society's decision not to participate, would produce a blueprint reflecting the
need for less executive absolutism.

They did manage to squeeze in a Senate and a handful of checks and balances.
But once in Mugabe's hands the document was manipulated to reflect his ruling
Zanu-PF party's priorities on land acquisition. A clumsy clause making Britain
responsible for compensation was inserted along with other interventions.

The country's opposition grouping, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
together with civic players, mounted a resistance to what they described as a
presidential confidence trick. Despite spending Z$2-billion, much of it on
advertising, the government lost the referendum held in February to approve the
draft. It was the first dent in Zanu-PF's 20-year political hegemony.

Mugabe appeared on television exuding humility. But within days his shock
troops, veterans of the country's liberation war, were leading farm invasions
across the country. Unemployed youths were paid a daily allowance to join in.

Directed by intelligence agents from the president's office and supplied by
the army, the invasions quickly assumed a menacing character. By occupying the
commercial farms, Mugabe was striking a single blow at two perceived enemies:
the white farmers he blamed for
blocking his populist land redistribution agenda and the MDC which had received
funding from the farmers. But despite widespread abductions of farm workers and
beatings of opposition supporters which resulted in 31 deaths, in the June
parliamentary election the MDC took 57 seats from Zanu-PF. Previously the
opposition had garnered no more than three. Zanu-PF won 62.

The sea change in Zimbabwe's electoral map revealed the defection of all
urban centres, vast swathes of Matabeleland in the west, and parts of Manicaland
in the east. In fact Mugabe's party had been reduced to its Mashonaland and
Masvingo roots. Even there it lost seats.

But far from daunted, the outcome confirmed Mugabe's view that his party was
the victim of a foreign conspiracy in which white farmers and the urban youth
were collaborators. Invasions continued as investors and donors packed their
bags. Tourism all but collapsed.

President Thabo Mbeki's intervention convinced Mugabe that he had Pretoria's
endorsement for his campaign of violent farm seizures. Agricultural production
plummeted. Wheat production is down 30% this year and declining. The European
Union has expressed concern about foot-and-mouth disease spreading as land
invaders cut fences and allow cattle to roam. The Save Conservancy in the south
of the country has become a killing field for species rescued from poaching
elsewhere.

The impact on the economy has been devastating. Disposable income is
calculated to have fallen by 70% and joblessness is climbing above 60%.
Economists see the economy shrinking by 5,5% this year and up to 10% next year.
As the government runs out of foreign currency fuel supplies have been reduced
to a trickle.

Only Eskom's goodwill enables Zimbabweans to celebrate Christmas this year
with the lights on. And that is not guaranteed in the new year.

Amid hints that President Robert Mugabe
wants to end the farm occupations that have brought Zimbabwe to its knees, his
henchmen have laid plans for a "youth corps" which observers fear will terrorise
the population. The moves come as the ruling Zanu-PF party faces unprecedented
disputes over the president's future.

As Mr Mugabe, 76, signalled that his government was ready to talk to white
farmers last week, the Youth Development Minister, Border Gezi, told parliament
in Harare that young people are to be recruited to help implement the
government's "fast-track" land resettlement scheme – a plan to distribute five
million hectares (12 million acres) to 150,000 families, which is blighted by a
lack of money.

The announcement last Tuesday was taken by observers to mean that special
units – made up of ruling party youths and war veterans now under the control of
the defence ministry – would be deployed in the rural areas, where 70 per cent
of voters live, ahead of the presidential election in 2002.

Mr Gezi said in parliament that the youth corps would be "trained in
self-defence". "There have been complaints that the fast-track land programme
does not benefit the needy," he said. "We are going to physically deliver
cheques to people, under the trees in the villages."

Mr Gezi's tactics in Mashonaland were among the most ruthless used to secure
victory for Zanu-PF in June's parliamentary election.

One senior party official said: "When President Mugabe says the Movement for
Democratic Change [MDC] will never form a government, you must never assume he
is joking. The guy means it and he will go to considerable lengths to achieve
that."

In the June election – blighted by land occupations and government-sponsored
violence which claimed 35 lives – the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, won 57 out
of 120 constituencies. The year-old party had been instrumental in February in
defeating a referendum to change the constitution.

The attention of the ruling party is now focused on the presidential
election, in which Mr Mugabe is expected to be its candidate.

The Zanu-PF people's congress in Harare 10 days ago, attended by 7,000 party
faithful, did not produce the challenge to Mr Mugabe's 20-year rule some had
predicted. "It was Mugabe's congress," said a European Union diplomat.

"It was all about putting him in pole position for 2002. He got the
endorsement he was after and that could explain why he is showing signs of
wanting to end the chaos in the countryside."

Despite numerous court challenges from commercial farmers, some 1,500 farms
are still occupied by veterans of the Seventies' war to end black rule, and
there are almost daily reports of violence.

Outwardly, at least, Mr Mugabe is safely in the Zanu-PF saddle and used the
congress to consolidate his position while promoting his protégé, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, a sign that he has chosen his heir. He also dropped the former
justice minister Eddison Zvobgo from the politburo, Zanu-PF's supreme
decision-making body.

Mr Zvobgo, who was the architect of the 1987-1990 constitutional amendments
that created Mr Mugabe's powerful position, had signalled an interest in leading
the party. Mr Mnangagwa, 58, was made secretary for administration in the
politburo. He is already the Speaker of parliament.

Yet one party faction considers him "unelectable" as a presidential
candidate, not least because he lost his constituency in June.

The most intriguing new member of the politburo is the young and dynamic
finance minister, Simba Makoni, probably appointed to government in July so Mr
Mugabe could impress the foreign donor community.

In
the week after another white farmer was murdered in Zimbabwe at the start of a
renewed government-backed farm-occupation campaign, Sally French, the wife of a
white farmer, writes of preparing for Christmas under occupation.

CHRISTMAS Eve on Nyamwanga Farm is usually a time of bustle, mince pies
baking in the oven, a Christmas cake to ice, presents to wrap and carols around
the Christmas tree with our two children, Danielle, 12 and Duncan, 11. This year
everything about Christmas is an effort.

We have some uninvited guests: more than 100 so-called war veterans and
squatters have been occupying our farm since March and have erected grass huts
all over our land.

December is normally a glorious month in Zimbabwe, everything is green, the
skies are spectacular and the rivers start to flow. But now if I look out of our
window across to the blue Mazowe hills or down to the river, I can see the
squatters ploughing our land with their hands or a few cattle and making a huge
mess of the beautiful farm my family has owned since 1953.

It's been the worst year I can ever remember. During the day they threaten us
and beat up our workers and we dare not let the children out of the house on
their own. Every night the squatters start drumming and chanting.

Almost two months ago, they attacked my husband Guy when he went to plant the
new cotton crop. When he led his workers into the fields at 6am on October 31, a
gang surrounded him. The leader shouted "we are going to kill you" and insisted
that the farm was theirs as it had been so designated
by the government in September.

Then they started beating him with nail-studded clubs and sticks until he was
unconscious. The workers who tried to help him were also set upon. One was hit
on the head with an axe, another had a broken rib and broken collarbone and
another a broken arm.

So much for title deeds and the rule of law. The people who assaulted my
husband are all out on bail and the person who led the assault has never been
arrested. Since then we live with constant fear for the children and how this is
all affecting them.

As we decorate the cypress tree that we have cut down from the garden - we
dared not go out to buy one this year - we try to console ourselves that we're
not the only ones suffering. About 1,000 white-owned farms are still occupied.
In our area, Shamva, which is about 50 miles north of Harare, there are 17 other
families in situations like ours.

When Henry Elsworth, a 70-year-old white farmer, was killed
last week, we all thought to ourselves that it could have been
us. It is particularly bad for our children. The joy of living here was always
the open spaces and freedom they enjoyed. My son is a keen tri-athlete. The
Mashonaland championships are in January and he is unable to ride his bike or go
for a run or even walk about the farm for fear that there might be an incident
with these squatters.

My daughter finished junior school this year and wanted to bring her boarding
school friends out for the first weekend of the holidays where they could camp
and waterski at the local dam. Their parents were not happy with the venue
because we could not guarantee their safety and the trip was cancelled. The
children are likewise unable to ride their ponies as we fear what would happen
if the squatters surrounded them. To date, Guy has not been able to plant a
single seed, so we will have no harvest next year.

This was a profitable farm - we have 980 hectares with cotton, maize,
sugarcane, soya beans and oranges. This should have been a good year as we have
had the best planting rains I can remember. Our financial position is getting
worse as we have huge overheads and if the situation continues we will be in
dire straits. We are really watching the pennies this Christmas.

It is a real effort to keep up the Christmas spirit this year. We are trying
our best because of the children but the tension means everyone is on a very
short fuse, losing their tempers over nothing. We will not risk driving into
Harare for Midnight Mass and and we will probably have prawns instead of turkey
tomorrow. It will be even worse for our 83 employees - they will have little or
no income this festive season so you can imagine what sort of Christmas they
will have.

We don't want to leave Zimbabwe because we were both born here - I am 40 and
Guy 44 - and don't see why we should leave. This is our land. If they can
frustrate us enough to make us leave they'll have got what they want and we will
lose everything that we have worked for and invested in. It seems as though
President Mugabe won't be happy until he has driven every single middle-class
person out of the country.

Farmers are usually eternal optimists as they have so many uncontrollable
parameters to fight against, such as the weather and the market value of their
produce. This year it's all doom and gloom, as our livelihood here is close to
intolerable and our future pretty bleak. Christmas is supposed to be a time of
rejoicing - but there's certainly no rejoicing
here.

Vincent Kahiya THE United Nations
has resta-ted its position that the govern- ment should drop the fast-track
resettlement drive if the United Nations Development Program-me (UNDP) is to
convince donors to finance agrarian reform in Zimbabwe.

This week the UN
delivered a letter to the Zimbabwe government as a follow-up to a visit by UNDP
administrator Mark Malloch Brown to Zimbabwe to assess possible ways in which
the international body could play the role of broker between the government and
donors.

Sources close to the UN said the letter was handed to the
Zimbabwe ambassador to the UN in New York, Tichaona Jokonya, last Friday. The
Harare office of the UNDP, the sources said, officially handed the letter to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday and it was relayed to the president the
same day.

The contents should have been discussed in cabinet on Tuesday
but this did not happen as the agenda of the meeting had already been set.
Senior government officials discussed the letter yester- day, government sources
said.

The letter was drafted after Malloch Brown’s meeting with UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan in New York at the beginning of last week.
Sources privy to the contents of the letter said the message from the UN was
not a great departure from the recommendation made by Malloch Brown at the end
of his brief visit here on December 1.

They said the letter indicated
that the UN was still interested in rescuing Zimbabwe from the present morass
but certain fundamentals had to be attended to. The fast-track programme would
have to be dropped and Zimbabwe would need to implement a manageable
resettlement programme which would accommodate the concerns of donors.

There are also proposals by the UN to assist Zimbabwe in setting up
institutions to support an orderly resettlement programme. The UN has proposed
ways of setting up a trust fund to finance the programme. Funds from the donors
would be channelled to Zimbabwe through the proposed fund.

The UN has
also proposed a transparent and non-political method to select individuals to
benefit from the resettlement scheme. Sources said the letter had been
carefully crafted to remove any tinge of confrontation with the government.

“The UN still wants to work with Zimbabwe in this and the last thing
Kofi Annan and Malloch Brown want to see at this delicate time is the rejection
of the letter by Mugabe,” said diplomatic sources privy to the contents of the
letter.

The UN letter came a few days after a tirade by President Mugabe
against whites and Western donors at the Zanu PF special congress. The
government has vowed to carry on with its land programme irrespective of donors
turning their backs on Zimbabwe.

Diplomatic sources said the UN was now
waiting for the government to reply to the letter. The nature of the reply would
decide the basis of future communication between the government and the UNDP
office in Harare.

The UNDP office is prepared to enter into delicate
discussions with the government on what points, if any, to adopt from the
recommendations. The holding of such a meeting depends on the reception the
letter receives from the government which has become hostile to any outside
advice on land reform.

The UNDP office in Harare however expects to
engage government in talks over the proposals in the New Year. In the meantime
donors will continue to stay away and more damage would be done to the economy
because of the unplanned resettlement which is already impacting adversely on
agricultural production.

Dumisani Muleya MOVEMENT for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangi- rai yesterday challenged
President Mugabe to a national debate on the economy to prove that he was not an
“ignoramus” as claimed by Mugabe last week.

Tsvangirai, who is
challenging the incumbent if he stands in the 2002 presidential election, said
he was ready to take Mugabe head-on in a debate and prove that the president was
himself ignorant of basic economics.

Mugabe, who has a chain of
university qualifications, also has a degree in economics. But his economic
record since he came to power 20 years ago is by no means impressive. Zimbabwe’s
per capita GDP has plummeted in relation to its neighbours in recent years.

“If Mugabe wants a public debate on the economy I can engage him
anytime, anywhere, on any platform, on any issue and at any level,” Tsvangirai
said. “Of course, I can’t face up to him on violence in which he has boasted of
having degrees. I don’t even have a certificate or diploma in violence.”

Mugabe, at his party’s congress last week, attacked the opposition and
the white minority. He said Tsvangirai was not qualified to run the economy. He
said MDC officials were “ignoramuses” who should not be allowed to rule
Zimbabwe.

“Tsvangirai is just an empty vessel, a bucket, a miserable
figure. The intellectual level of this country will not allow the MDC
ignoramuses to rule this country,” Mugabe told his supporters.

“Where
will he (Tsvangirai) get ideas to resolve our economic problems? Does Tsvangirai
even understand how an economy functions?” Mugabe asked. Tsvangirai said in
reply: “I don’t want to be drawn into personal attacks with Mugabe but one thing
that we all know is that he has run down the economy to a meltdown. There is
overwhelming evidence of that and everybody knows it.”

Mugabe recently
said: “I don’t know who could have managed this economy better than I did.” His
remarks came in the midst of the worst economic crisis the country has ever
faced. All economic indicators — inflation, interest rates, and the exchange
rate as well as unemployment and poverty levels — are at an all-time high.
Disposable income is calcu- lated to have fallen 70% this year.

Tsvangirai said it was ironic that a leader who spent three days during
the congress hawking failed economic programmes and unworkable policies had the
cheek to accuse other people of ignorance.

“We have a programme on the
economy and everyone who has bothered to check knows that. Zanu PF is always
contradicting itself. One time they claim we have no programme at all and at
another they allege we have copied their own economic programme,” he said.

On claims that the MDC is a front for imperialist forces, Tsvangirai
said that was dishonest propaganda which was now collapsing on its own.

“Those attacks illustrate desperation and panic within Zanu PF. It is
really sad to realise that the ruling party convened a congress at a defining
moment for the country but failed to come up with any strategies on a broad
range of national issues,” he observed. On the presidential race, Tsvangirai
said he would approach the election with an open mind.

“We will go to
the race knowing fully well the odds against us. But we also know our
strengths,” he said. “If it’s going to be a free and fair election, it would be
a drubbing for Mugabe. But we are aware that Zanu will employ dirty tactics
against us.”

The MDC leader said his party would work hard to retain
Bikita West constituency in the forth- coming parliamentary by-election. He said
he was aware that Zanu PF has already unleashed its violent election agents in
the constituency.

“If the situation worsens to a point where we can’t
campaign, we will go to the courts to seek protection under the law,” he said.
Tsvangirai dismissed as “pathetic” remarks by ruling parties from the region
who came to express solidarity with Zanu PF.

“It was predictable that
those parties which came to the Zanu PF circus had come to please their masters
and Mugabe,” said Tsvangirai. “Especially those Afro-Americans who don’t
understand the situation and are out of touch with the realities in Zimbabwe.”

The MDC leader said ruling parties in the region should mind their own
business and leave his alone.

“MDC first and foremost derives its
legitimacy from Zimbabweans and not anyone from outside. We are a legitimate
party in our country and it is therefore undemocratic for foreign parties to
come and denounce us in our own country,” he said.

Zanu PF recruited the
Movement for Multiparty Democracy and opposition Unip from Zambia, Frelimo from
Mozambique, Malawi’s United Democratic Front, Angola’s MPLA, Chama Cha Mapinduzi
from Tanzania, and the African National Congress from South Africa to come and
express solidarity with it. The MDC in a statement criticised the parties
for dishonest remarks and hypocrisy about the situation in Zimbabwe.

“As
a matter of fact, the majority of these political parties...replaced failed
nationalist governments in their own countries and it is saddening to note that
they want to deny Zimbabweans an opportunity to determine how and by whom they
should be governed,” the MDC said.

Tsvangirai said Zanu PF knows that it
is not telling the truth when it claims the MDC is opposed to land reform. Crude
and semi-literate propaganda did not work in modern political societies, he
said.

Harare - The nation's highest court ruled
on Thursday that the government's "fast track" land acquisition law was
unconstitutional and for a second time this year declared the seizures of
white-owned farms illegal. In the most sweeping ruling against President Robert
Mugabe's land seizure programme, the court said the government had persistently
broken the law in farming districts since ruling party militants were allowed in
February to occupy hundreds of white-owned farms. "Wicked things have been done
and continue to be done. They must be stopped. Common law crimes have been and
are being committed with impunity," said the 30-page ruling signed by Chief
Judge Anthony Gubbay.

"We cannot ignore the imperative of land
reform. We cannot punish what is wrong by stopping what is right. The reality is
the government is unwilling to carry out a sustainable program of land reform in
terms of its own law," the five judges said in the ruling. The court said
farmers and their workers had been denied the protection of the law from
violence and intimidation; that they had suffered discrimination on grounds of
political opinions; and that their movement and rights of association were
infringed by farm occupiers, ruling party militants and state officials - all in
violation of constitutional rights.

The "fast track" land acquisition law
passed by ruling party legislators in April violated land owners' constitutional
rights to reasonable notice of seizure to enable them to appeal or make other
plans, the court said. The judges gave the government until July 1 to show it
was restoring the rule of law in farming areas and formulating "a workable
program of land reform". Three previous court orders it won to force police to
remove illegal occupiers from farms and restore law and order have been ignored
by the government.

The ruling came in response to an
application by the CFU, representing 4,000 white farmers, contesting land
seizures on constitutional grounds. The union was to issue a statement on its
victory later on Thursday. Thursday's ruling coincided with the release of
details of a letter from a top UN envoy of Secretary General Kofi Annan to
Mugabe effectively ruling out a resumption of donor aid to assist with land
reform unless "fast track" farm seizures were abandoned. Mark Malloch Brown,
administrator of the UNDP who visited Zimbabwe earlier this month, said efforts
by the UN to restore donor funding depended on Zimbabwe adopting a "more systematic investment-backed approach"
to land reform.

In November the Supreme Court said the government failed
to observe legal steps to nationalise 3 000 white-owned farms for the
resettlement of landless blacks by not giving owners enough warning of seizures
and not paying compensation for improvements, such as roads and irrigation.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made immediately said ruling would not hinder the
government's "fast track" program. Mugabe had earlier countermanded two High
Court orders demanding police end illegal farm occupations. Mugabe has described
the occupations as a justified protest against unfair land ownership by whites.
On December 6 he warned white farmers they risk expulsion unless they stop
fighting the government in court

MEMORANDUM

TO: ALL CFU MEMBERS

FROM COMMERCIAL FARMERS’ UNION

DATE: 21ST December 2000

RE: JUDGEMENT ON SUPREME COURT APPLICATION

A. Introduction

The full bench of the Supreme Court delivered its judgement
today, 21 December 2000, in respect of the CFU’s Constitutional Court
Application relevant to the Land Acquisition exercise.

B. The Court has declared:

That the rule of law has been persistently violated in commercial farming
areas of Zimbabwe since February 2000, and it is imperative that that situation
be rectified forthwith; and

That persons in Commercial farming areas have been denied the protection of
the law, in contravention of Section 18 of the Constitution; have suffered
discrimination on the grounds of political opinions and place of origin in
contravention of Section 23 of the Constitution and have had their rights of
assembly and association infringed in contravention of Section 21 of the
Constitution; and

That there is not in existence at the present time a programme of land
reform as that phrase is used in Section 16A of the Constitution; and

That the purported amendment of Section 5 (4) of the Land Acquisition Act by
Section 3B of Act 15/2000 is null and void as being in conflict with the
requirement of reasonable notice in Section 16 (1) (b) of the Constitution (This
means that the previous one year limitation period now applies again to Section
5 notices).

C. The Court ordered:

That all Ministers involved in the Land Acquisition exercise and the
Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police and President of the
Republic of Zimbabwe comply immediately with the Consent Order of 10 November
2000 in Case No SC 314/2000 (which included the requirement of immediate removal
of all illegal invaders) and that these persons also comply with the Order of
the High Court of 17 March 2000 issued by Justice Garwe. This essentially
required removal again of all unlawful invaders from Commercial Farms and the
prevention of further invasions; and

That the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Resettlement, the Minister of
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and the Minister of Rural
Resources and Water Development are to produce a workable programme of land
reform, and, that the Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police
are to satisfy the Supreme Court that the rule of law has been restored in the
commercial farming areas of Zimbabwe by no later than 1 July 2001, failing which
no further steps can be taken in the acquisition of land for resettlement.

D. Further aspects of the judgment

The Court found that legislation promulgated on 7 November 2000 to amend the
Land Acquisition Act was lawful and therefore it was not necessary to determine
whether the Presidential Powers Act or the Regulations thereunder were
constitutional or not.

The Court found that there was no lawful programme of land reform in
existence at this time and therefore it was not necessary for the purposes of
the judgement concerned to deal with any argument on the question of
compensation.

The court specifically held that preliminary section 5 Gazette notices which
were published subsequent to 23 May 2000 remain valid but they are subject to
the one-year expiry limit that existed before the President changed the Land
Acquisition Act in May. Because of this finding you should contact your lawyers
for further advice but the Union advises that you continue to respond to
preliminary notices within the period specified in the Gazette. That is usually
30 days from the date of the Gazette Notice but check the Gazette for your
particular notice.

The position concerning Section 8 Acquisition Orders is not quite so clear.
Where Government issues a Section 8 Order before going to court (as is the
practice at this time) Government still has to commence court proceeding for
confirmation of the Acquisition within 30 days. There is disagreement between
the lawyers as to when the 30 day period begins and when it ends. It may begin
on the date that the Acquisition Order is signed but there is a strong argument
that it does not begin until the Section 8 Order is served on you. The 30 day
period may end when the court papers are filed at the administrative court but
it is also suggested that the court papers have to be served on the farmer not
more than 30 days after the acquisition order was served. Make sure that you
keep careful notes of when the section 8 order was served on you and when the
court papers were served on you. They can be served on you by leaving them at
your farm with a "responsible person". This can be a domestic worker, so workers
with any degree of authority should be instructed to get a message to you
immediately any papers are brought to your farm.

There is still nothing that you have to do on receipt of a section 8
acquisition order save to watch out for the arrival of the court papers. You
must nevertheless prepare yourself to answer the court papers and this has to be
done within 15 days of the court papers being served. This is where you really
do need a lawyer. The opposing papers in the court case are very important.
Government is serving court papers even when land is conceded and even when
counter offers have been made but not considered. You must protect your position
by filing papers in court to explain whether you consent, oppose or wish to do a
deal.

Quite obviously, the findings of the Supreme Court that are listed at the
beginning of this memorandum will be further reasons and arguments for the
defense that you can raise in the papers that you file for court. This means
that the suggested responses already circulated to members will need to be
revised and this will be done shortly.

It would be difficult to imagine a bleaker prospect than
that which confronts Zimbabweans this Christmas. The fuel queues snaking around
the capital have become emblematic of the crisis facing this once
self-sufficient country.

The government needs to find US$40 million a month to pay
for fuel imports. But farm invasions have reduced export volumes in precisely
those sectors that earned foreign exchange.

While tobacco has survived for the time being with only
slightly decreased earnings (next year it is forecast to be down by at least
20%), other sectors have been affected and tourism has all but collapsed.
Agricultural production as a whole is down 9% this year.

Put simply, we no longer earn the revenues required to feed
our rate of consumption.

The deployment of troops in the Congo is continuing to drain
foreign exchange that could be used for vital imports. So do debt
repayments.

Debt service costs US$3,2 million a day. A recent
advertisement in the press points out that one month's debt service would be
enough to pay for a new power station, or a new airport terminal, or a full
upgrade of PTC services, or two new hospitals, or a highway between Harare and
Victoria Falls.

The criminal waste of public resources by a government
contemptuous of good governance is a terrible price to pay for our already
over-burdened people. That President Mugabe should try and get away with blaming
productive farmers and businessmen for a crisis entirely of his own making is
itself indicative of political delinquency at the highest level.

Disposable incomes are estimated to have fallen by 70% in
the past year while unemployment is now over 60%.

With these chilling statistics, it is hard to see how Mugabe
can label his detractors "ignoramuses".

The facts speak for themselves as to who is completely
ignorant of economics. Zimbabweans have never been poorer.

What is so difficult to understand is that a national leader
should remain so defiant in the midst of such poverty and privation. What he
promises in effect is more of the same as the international community becomes
increasingly alienated by his lawless and damaging policies.

To pretend that a land acquisition programme which actually
sabotages agriculture and downstream industries is going to provide a panacea
for the economy is self-deception of the worst possible kind by people who have
failed us in the past. What has been the outcome of the other panaceas he has
promised us?

But perhaps the worst aspect of Mugabe's approach to
governance is the open incitement to his followers - people paid by public
resources to illegally occupy land - to "strike fear" into the hearts of a
law-abiding minority whose only "crime" has been to exercise their rights under
the law.

Not some colonial law, but a law signed by President Mugabe
himself.

When inevitably people are killed as a result of reckless
rhetoric of this sort, Chenjerai Hunzvi says it is "tough luck".

"We are now fighting for our land and whoever is killed it's
tough luck," he told the Zanu PF congress. "It is now going to be very hard for
commercial farmers."

What sort of culture is it that speaks of violence and death
in this way? Certainly not a Zimbabwean culture.

Most Zimbabweans are appalled by Mugabe's blood-spattered
programme of land seizures. It is all the more criminal when one considers the
efforts of donors and the UNDP to put a workable programme in place that would
attract massive external funding and not disrupt production.

The only consolation for Zimbabweans contemplating the
devastation around them is that during this year they have successfully shown in
two democratic tests that they reject Mugabe's racist scapegoating and his
devastating land grab.

Furthermore, they have said they want him to go.

The international community has meanwhile given him the cold
shoulder despite a number of puerile solidarity messages at the recent Zanu PF
special congress.

His unseemly language and wild denunciation of opponents
only reflect the desperation of a man who can see power slipping away.

While he controls a number of sinister state departments
buttressing his authority he long ago lost the respect of the nation he
heads.

Zimbabweans are looking ahead to the post-Mugabe era when
international assistance and economic recovery will make life easier for
everybody.

We should plan for that time by formulating policies that
can be put in place immediately there is a change of regime.

Meanwhile, Zimbabweans should prepare for the worst.

As the beast is cornered in its lair it will lash out
against its tormentors.

We should prepare for the New Year with hope tinged by
realism.

It is not going to get better yet. But we must craft the
nation we want.

Harare - 'Twas Christmas Eve, and weary
Zimbabweans were still waiting in long lines for fuel and cash, hoping to scrape
together enough of both to hold whatever celebration they can afford.

Lengthy queues have been a part of life in Zimbabwe since this time last
year, when economic troubles began causing fuel shortages.

But during the last week, the fuel queues became four-lane monstrosities that
clogged Harare's streets and caused occasional fist-fights over line-cutting.

For many, waiting for fuel was the second queue - after waiting for cash at
banks and automatic teller machines that repeatedly ran out of money during the
week as workers tried to cash their annual bonuses, which many people received
on Monday.

Thursday was the last banking day here ahead of the holiday weekend, which
led to lines that snaked around blocks in downtown Harare as people hoped to get
cash from ATMs, only to find that banks had reduced the maximum withdrawal -- by
as much as 75%.

"The queues were just too long, and there were signs that the ATMs would run
dry because there was no staff that was feeding cash into the machines," an
unnamed banking official told the state-run Sunday Mail.

By Christmas Eve, the lines downtown began shrinking, both because many ATMs
were empty and because people had given up on finishing their Christmas
preparations.

The queues were only a problem for people who had money in the first place.
The average Zimbabwean's disposable income has fallen by 70% since January,
according to estimates in the independent press here.

"No Christmas for me. We are suffering," said a security guard in downtown
Harare, who asked not to be named. He said he wasn't working during the holiday
week, but he didn't have enough money to take his wife and children to visit
relatives in their home village.

During the holidays, many city-dwellers travel to the villages where their
families live.

But bus fares have skyrocketed as fuel prices more than doubled this year and
passengers have complained that not enough buses are running this year.

"Normally we do not have problems with the buses," said Netty Butsu, who was
heading to her village in the Mhondoro region.

"I think it's because of the fuel shortage," she told the state-run Ziana
news agency.

Police were called to the nation's busiest bus terminus, Mbare-Musika, on
Friday to control hundreds of disgruntled passengers who had waited hours for a
bus home.

After a year marked by widespread political violence and Zimbabwe's
worst-ever economic crisis, even seasonal greetings have been affected.

Two of Zimbabwe's privately run weeklies, the Independent and the Financial
Gazette, weren't optimistic enough to wish their readers a happy new year, only
a better one. - Sapa-AFP